Norman Rockwell’s Photo Realism
© All photographs from the permanent collection of Norman Rockwell Museum
Norman Rockwell’s rosy illustrations of small town American life looked so photographic because his method was to copy photographs that he conceived and meticulously directed, working with various photographers and using friends and neighbors as his models. “The Runaway” (1958) is one example from the recently published Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera (Little, Brown and Company, 2009). More about Rockwell’s photo realism, including an image gallery, is currently on NPR’s web site. The Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusettes is also hosting an exhibition, and according to NPR, will put Rockwell’s digitized photographic archive online at the end of the year.
© Courtesy of Norman Rockwell Museum
© Courtesy of Norman Rockwell Museum
 © Courtesy of Norman Rockwell Museum |
 © Courtesy of Norman Rockwell Museum |
|
 © Courtesy of Norman Rockwell Museum |
|
 © Courtesy of Norman Rockwell Museum |
© Courtesy of Norman Rockwell Museum
© Courtesy of Norman Rockwell Museum
 © Courtesy of Norman Rockwell Museum |
 © Courtesy of Norman Rockwell Museum |
 © Courtesy of Norman Rockwell Museum |
 ©2009 Norman Rockwell Family Agency |
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009 at 12:00 pm ET
by admin and is filed under Books, History, Photo Galleries, Portraiture.
December 2nd, 2009 at 2:46 pm EGMT+5
Really cool. I have always loved Rockwell’s work, obviously it hearkens back to a simpler time, when four cops could have coffee before shift and someone might even buy it for them.
Of course, the reality is that when Norman Rockwell was at the height of his career, we were fighting a war on several fronts, racism was far worse, religious intolerance was the norm and poverty was rampant.
All I know is that I worry for my kids. I don’t want them to grow up in this age of violence. I hope we can all do better to make our world a more Rockwellian place.
December 2nd, 2009 at 3:14 pm EGMT+5
To call this amazing artist/illustrator a “paint-by-numbers artist” is to negate the skill and talent required to reproduce a photograph with brush and paint – especially considering Rockwell went from black and white photos to a full color rendering.
There’s a reason they call this “photo realism” and it is a legitimate art form. “Tracing” an outline from a photograph is no different than using a projector or working from a photo layer in a graphics program – something that many artists employ in this day and age. It is simply a method of transferring your basic illustration quickly, a requirement for professional illustrators who had tight deadlines.
Note the many changes Rockwell made to position, expression and backgrounds to better suit his design. The photos were a starting point, one which he created and directed in the beginning by staging the photograph to match his vision.
This is creativity in process and it is a privilege to see how he went from first creative thought to final rendering. I thank the Norman Rockwell Family Agency for giving us a peek into the work process of one of America’s most beloved artists!
I am a big fan of Norman Rockwell and he was one of the artists that inspired me to become an artist myself.
December 2nd, 2009 at 4:54 pm EGMT+5
Letterman did a top 10 list of “Unpublished Norman Rockwell Paintings” actually quite a few years ago. The three I remember most were “Bad Clams, “Old Hobo’s Infected Toe”, and “Turn Your Head and Cough.”
December 2nd, 2009 at 5:26 pm EGMT+5
EvilGod, i hereby challenge you to a contest.
i would care to see you approach the level of talent Norman Rockwell exhibits.
feel free to paint by numbers.
Good luck.
December 2nd, 2009 at 7:28 pm EGMT+5
Still pretty amazing, if you ask me. Thanks…
December 2nd, 2009 at 8:52 pm EGMT+5
If anyone here is a fan of Norman Rockwell and hasn’t been to the museum in Mass, it is amazing. Some of the paintings there are incredible, like the larger than life line worker. You find yourself guessing if they really are photos or not.
December 2nd, 2009 at 10:14 pm EGMT+5
Rockwell’s technique isn’t unusual at all; the Canadian painter Alex Colville has a similar approach. The use of photos in no way detracts from their incredible talents.
December 3rd, 2009 at 12:05 am EGMT+5
Awesome collection. I’ve always been captivated when I look at his work, I never knew it was based on photographs. That’s pretty cool.
December 3rd, 2009 at 12:41 am EGMT+5
I prefer the photos by far!
December 3rd, 2009 at 2:34 am EGMT+5
#1 is the best pic of these.
gotta give credit to the man.
December 3rd, 2009 at 8:15 am EGMT+5
Rockwell was a hack…
J.C. Leyendecker…
that’s where it’s at…
December 3rd, 2009 at 8:38 am EGMT+5
Simply the best Illustrator EVER!
December 3rd, 2009 at 10:09 am EGMT+5
he had a thought-picked the models-photographed the scene- transfered the scene to canvas-then and only then did he start to render what he alredy had created from scratch.
December 3rd, 2009 at 11:46 am EGMT+5
So he was the original ’shopper?
December 3rd, 2009 at 12:50 pm EGMT+5
Paint by number..? You have to be kidding me! Why because he is painting what he sees? Isn’t that what painters/Illustrators do? They paint what they see! Idiot…
December 3rd, 2009 at 4:17 pm EGMT+5
Rockwell’s painting talent is just the craftsman part, and it’s brilliant in its own right. His real genius is that his painting adds a human story that’s only hinted at in the photographs!
December 3rd, 2009 at 6:33 pm EGMT+5
The man was a talented artist, a genius and anyone who doesn’t get it, is a damned fool. Outside of that, have a lovely day.
December 3rd, 2009 at 6:35 pm EGMT+5
Brilliant..
December 3rd, 2009 at 7:40 pm EGMT+5
http://ww.spyadeal.com
December 3rd, 2009 at 7:49 pm EGMT+5
Norman Rockwell made some pretty significant changes while he was converting these pictures from photographs to the canvas, and I think that most of them are for the better. This is a good gallery of paintings, but I would like to see the paintings that were made from the last few photographs, though.
December 3rd, 2009 at 8:57 pm EGMT+5
Amazing, the transformation which took place from the photograph to the finished painting! The way the sailors hat moves from the top of his hat to the back of his head, for example. Faces become more mature, expressions more complex, yet even more quintessentially American. The way he warms up the scene in the Barber Shop, with the stove’s glowing embers in the dark, and the addition of the fiddler. (That lovely simplicity of the old shop makes me nostalgic for a better time in America.) Heck, I remember when The Four Freedoms actually came out on the Post magazine covers. I was a kid then, and WW II was going on. By showing us small town America, Rockwell showed us the best that America could be. It’s gone now. We are no longer innocent as a nation. (And Glenn Beck’s teabaggers won’t get it back. In fact, they are a big part of the problem!) In the same way, Michelangelo and Bernini encapsulated the best of their age. Rembrandt, Van Eyck, (whose name, btw, one can easily read on the shelf of The Marriage Councilor’s waiting room.) Daumier, Toulouse Lautrec, Degas— all Realists. Anyone who quibbles about the merits of Rockwell’s work in this post-modern era, is incompetent to discuss art at all.
December 3rd, 2009 at 11:49 pm EGMT+5
I love how the cop in the diner is more burly and broad-shouldered in Rockwell’s painting than in the photograph. It gives him the sense of a protector for the boy.
The criticisms of Rockwell’s work and process is just an example of the pretentious snobbery that occurs in the art world.
December 4th, 2009 at 2:47 am EGMT+5
Brilliant work!
December 4th, 2009 at 8:49 pm EGMT+5
norman rockwell – always one of my favorites – how delightful to learn more about how he executed his paintings – such meticulous attention to detail could only arise through careful planning, i can’t believe i never knew before exactly how he accomplished same. i’m marveling at how many photographs i could instantly recognize the painting, even when it wasn’t displayed. there are plenty of artists who tap into our dark side; in fact, one might say it’s easier in many ways. i’ve long been and always will be grateful to the man who showed us that there is light and beauty to complement the darkness, showed us both the humor and poignancy in life’s simple conflicts as well. There is pain enough in life – and Rockwell knew it well – in fact people in general in those times were better connected with life’s challenges and difficulties – the great Depression was not long behind them, and every day required a great deal of work with little assurance for most. They didn’t need to be reminded in art of those truths, perhaps; they weren’t split off from each other, the way we are today. They had family and community, and a sense of hope and direction for their future, even when life was hard; things too often lacking in our modern experience. It’s good to be reminded.
December 4th, 2009 at 11:17 pm EGMT+5
Things are this simple…..move to vermont
December 5th, 2009 at 12:03 am EGMT+5
I am not only lucky enough to grow up in the Berkshires, but i have also had the amazing opportunity to chat with Norman Rockwell’s son, who is quite the artist in his own right. Norman Rockwell captured not a generation, but in alot of ways, the entire feeling of Berkshire County even to this day in a way. Its simply a matter of noticing the simple moments like the ones he captured, studied and turned into amazing photo-realistic works of beauty.
December 5th, 2009 at 9:49 am EGMT+5
My mom used to love Norman Rockwell. Me, not so much. I can appreciate his skill and humor though.
December 5th, 2009 at 1:24 pm EGMT+5
i’ve had a print of that first one on my wall ever since i was a little kid. i also have another norman rockwell print that’s always been hanging beside it.
December 6th, 2009 at 8:24 am EGMT+5
Response to Lucas Dec 2nd 2009
The middle part of you post describes the reality of the times when Rockwell was working, yet at the end you say you wish we could return to rockwellian times. Face it buddy, your kids ARE growing up in the same environment as the kids in Rockwells time, just some of the details have changed.
Arabs/middle easterners for blacks
War in the middle east instead of Europe
Religious prejudice… well that hasn’t really changed any details.
We are still fighting all the same battles we were 80 years ago. so don’t sweat it, Luke, you’re kids are doing just fine.
December 6th, 2009 at 12:12 pm EGMT+5
I’m not sure why the shocker here. They are his photos. His tools.
The idea that using photographs some how negates his art is truly uninformed and an excuse for people who think that somehow using a photograph makes an artist’s job easier. Would it be more acceptable if he had kept his models seated for hours & weeks on end? The fact that he used and set up his own photographs is far more legitimate than using the photgraphs of others – and frankly – not unusual. A photo is a tool like any other. I’m not clear who makes up these “rules,” that an artist must create purely from their imagination and memory or only from life in front of them and of the moment. I would challenge anyone to do what he did as well as he did without photos or reference materials.
Mr Rockwell’s training at the Art Student League and his respect for and apprenticeship during the golden age of illustration (Leyendecker, Parrish and others) is evident in his ability to draft, draw and “art direct” the preliminary photos and subsequent paintings. His compostions are nearly flawless, with every detail worked out in many sketched roughs (drawn & painted), including accurate light sources and shadows, proportion and color. He was a perfectionist with high expectations of his results. Why would you deny him a tool?
December 6th, 2009 at 12:27 pm EGMT+5
And oh by the way – in case you didn’t notice, the photos are b/w & the paintings are in color. He had to recreate the color, warm & cool tones etc w/o help from the photos and make them so believable that no one’s even noticing. I assure you that’s hard to do.
If you haven’t already, I highly recommend seeing the paintings and sketches when you have the opportunity. They are stunning, larger than you think, and will give new appreciation for the man and his work.
December 6th, 2009 at 11:19 pm EGMT+5
Wow. Stumbled this. The photographs are so much more interesting!
God Rockwell’s work is obnoxious. Skill, sure, he’s a skilled illustrator. His work is like a set of knock-knock jokes you’re sure you’ve heard before even when it’s the first time.
December 7th, 2009 at 8:22 am EGMT+5
some were good some were not but over all i like it hope to see more thnks and merry xmas n a happy new year to yall
December 7th, 2009 at 10:20 am EGMT+5
He did not trace the photos. You can see the that in the final renderings. It is artwork and many artists work from photos to get overall proportions and then focus on detail. Many including myself do not use any kind of tracing. For many pieces it is hard to have the subject remain still. And, it is impossible to get accurate detail from memory for photo-realistic drawing or painting. This is art. If it does not work for you, that is ok. But, try sketching something…anything. I draw in pencil and people are surprised it is not a photo. It can take 50-60 hours to do a simple 11″ by 14″ image with no background. Better yet, watch an artist at work. The skill and talent need to be understood at times before they can be appreciated.
D
December 7th, 2009 at 10:24 am EGMT+5
Just to clarify. At times, he did use a projector but to say that is cheating or paint by number is just wrong. You would be surprised at the number of famous artists that trace to some degree.
December 7th, 2009 at 11:57 am EGMT+5
BRILLIANT!
December 7th, 2009 at 1:27 pm EGMT+5
Anyone here who says Rockwell’s not an artist because he uses a reference photo is not an artist themselves and is ignorant of the processes involved.
Artists use references. Whether it’s DaVinci painting the Mona Lisa (who was sitting in front of him, hello! reference!) or a still life on the table.
Would it have been MORE artsy-fartsy had he sat in front of these subjects and made them hold their pose for hours while he blocked everything in? Newsflash: if Da Vinci or Rembrandt or Van Gough would have been able to take photographs as reference, they would have.
December 7th, 2009 at 1:44 pm EGMT+5
Beautiful!!!
December 7th, 2009 at 2:20 pm EGMT+5
The third photo (with the little girl) is fuckin’ awesome.
So cute! ^^
December 7th, 2009 at 3:26 pm EGMT+5
rockwell did a remarkable job of giving life to a copied photo………..but ,of course, this keep hi stuff from being sugar aweet.
December 7th, 2009 at 3:44 pm EGMT+5
It’s really too bad these are black and white. They could have been awesome. Here’s hoping the originals are in color.
Black and white might work for scenery, and night shots, but it looks bad for pictures of people.
I know some people like them, to but to me it looks dim and dreary.
December 7th, 2009 at 4:08 pm EGMT+5
The use of photographs as reference…emphasis on REFERENCE by no means takes away from the talent necessary to compose and then create the painting from it. Rockwell was an American Great. I have produced charcoal drawings from life that were painstaking and what some thought to be photo realistic. I know first hand the difficulty in putting on canvas by hand what the mind desires. There is not other task in the world as difficult. Rockwell deserves our undying admiration of painting an America that was grand, grateful, respected its Creator and had flaws. As for CED, who’s language is very un-Rockwellian…I hope you grow up.
December 7th, 2009 at 5:29 pm EGMT+5
I had no idea he made his pictures form staged photographs
December 7th, 2009 at 5:53 pm EGMT+5
It’s no real news that Rockwell used photos, he was quite open about using refrence… it’s what helped make his illustrations so strong. The artistry falls into his compositions, that he set up. In the details, things like making all the characters shoes reflect who and what there were and did… He was a master at making a scene come to life.
December 7th, 2009 at 11:13 pm EGMT+5
Thank you ! I love this topic
December 8th, 2009 at 2:35 am EGMT+5
Does it matter if the guy was an anti-Semite?
December 8th, 2009 at 10:45 am EGMT+5
As an art student, one of the thing first things we learned was how to use photos for reference and how to shoot photos correctly to be used for reference. Most artists use photo references for many reasons. It’s virtually impossible to perfectly remember how a scene looked, it’s difficult and expensive to get models to sit for the hours and hours it takes to paint a picture with this much detail, it is hard to remember how the lighting was, and so on. Often the artist sketches out the scene he is envisioning, the sets up his models accordingly, and using the photos as reference he adjust the scene so that it works, and continues on in this manner. To state that using photos as reference was a weakness on Rockwell’s part or to reduce his work to ‘paint by numbers’ because of it is an inaccurate statement.
December 8th, 2009 at 4:47 pm EGMT+5
When the barbershop musicians picture ran, someone asked about the incorrect clarinet player hand position. The reply was something like ’some amateur players do it that way’, which I always doubted.
Maybe the photo was flopped.
December 8th, 2009 at 7:41 pm EGMT+5
Did you know that most of his paintings are in the process of self destruction!
Being that the paintings were made to be photographed for the magazines and not to be hung in some museum, He lacquered the the paintings with thinner lacquer to bring out the brilliance in the colors, Unfortunately the lacquer is causing the original paintings to become brittle and fall apart. All of his exhibits are actually photographs of the original paintings.
On another note. None of the world that any artist produces really does exist. Does it?
I mean they all paint perfect worlds of happier and more innocent times.
In reality there never was such a time. The world has always had war and poverty at any given time.
So don’t misjudge the man. He painted what he wanted to see, Not what was going around at the time.
December 8th, 2009 at 7:53 pm EGMT+5
Does anyone know what font is on the door that reads “Marriage Counselor” ?
December 8th, 2009 at 9:25 pm EGMT+5
They had a re- enactment of his christmas on main street last week in Stockbridge. Some of his original models were there. The model who stood in as a mother washing her son in a bath tub for an ad was there and she had a copy of the $25 check he gave her. She said he told her that he would draw for the paycheck.. Found that a bit unsettling because I always thought of his work as art.
December 9th, 2009 at 7:55 am EGMT+5
Font on door is Avenir Light
December 9th, 2009 at 1:57 pm EGMT+5
I truly enjoy his work. There is so much misery in the world. His work shines a spotlight on the decent moments in life and on moments that cause a little chuckle.
I will never understand that minority who always want to negative anything that is clean, light, and cheering. Does it matter how the work was completed? Or what was used? He could do something many of us couldn’t begin to do. Create a picture.
Some of the art work being palmed off on us today looks like a house painter’s tarp that was used to wipe the floor and his behind. that doesn’t take any talent at all. Neither does standing back and throwing garbage at a canvas.
Regardless, Norman Rockwell was a talented artist and we won’t see his like again soon.
December 9th, 2009 at 4:25 pm EGMT+5
that is really neat, it would be fun to be the one taking the pictures
December 9th, 2009 at 6:04 pm EGMT+5
I’ve been a fan since seeing Post covers in the 50’s. Being in the UK it gave another view of the USA, not quite the one pictured in newspapers and newsreels. Recently added a copy of Norman Rockwell’s America to my books. To turn this discussion around, I’d like to see anyone recreate some of his images into photographic form. They’d never get the humour or provide the same emotional reaction that he gets by the minute attention to detail that makes your eye explore every square inch. Draughtsman? Yes, a great one. Check some of his portraits as well. Sentimental? Of course, and I’ve no problem with that.
December 12th, 2009 at 10:10 am EGMT+5
“Lucas” on Decemeber 2nd so succintly expressed all my feelings and yearnings about modern times vs. Norman Rockwell era so eloquently in a just a few sentences. We are in such a quandary, aren’t we, Lucas?
December 14th, 2009 at 10:00 am EGMT+5
Great site like the photos from ProfitableCapstone.com
December 16th, 2009 at 12:17 pm EGMT+5
Lucas, I am touched by your sentiment. I too worry for my kids but I hope that they would live in and embrace the world as it is and not as we would like it to be. Only then could we make this world like the peaceful world Rockwell painted
December 20th, 2009 at 7:56 pm EGMT+5
Loved the website. Could the pictures be placed next to one another so it would be easier to compare them?
December 23rd, 2009 at 12:21 am EGMT+5
“All I know is that I worry for my kids. I don’t want them to grow up in this age of violence. I hope we can all do better to make our world a more Rockwellian place.”
If WWII, Holocaust, segregation etc., wasn’t an age of violence then I don’t know what is. I’m tired of people acting like the world is so bad. There has always been problems in America, maybe Rockwell just decided to be positive and not a Debbie Downer.
December 23rd, 2009 at 3:12 am EGMT+5
It is just so cool
December 23rd, 2009 at 3:03 pm EGMT+5
These photos/illustrations touched a nostalgic nerve. My appreciation of his work began many years ago when his covers appeared on Post magazine. Our family would visit my Grandparents every other weekend and they always had the latest copy of Life and the S.E.Post. Reading these magazines taught me more about life and the world than my schooling and Rockwell’s illustrations have remained forever in my memories.
December 26th, 2009 at 1:46 pm EGMT+5
I have been an admirer of Mr.Rockwell”s artistic work since the 40s….and still is……….
January 2nd, 2010 at 5:32 pm EGMT+5
I’ve enjoyed Rockwell’s painting, since I was a child of the 50’s. When Rockwell was asked about his paintings, he said he painted not as things were, but how he wished it was.
January 13th, 2010 at 3:44 am EGMT+5
Great stuff! Great attention to details.
January 14th, 2010 at 1:34 pm EGMT+5
Great portfolio. Like that!
January 18th, 2010 at 7:35 pm EGMT+5
Glad to see the photos. Thanks for posting them.
February 2nd, 2010 at 5:21 pm EGMT+5
Hello! Was no one paying attention? Rockwell “conceived and meticulously directed (the photos), working with various photographers and using friends and neighbors as his model.”
These were, in effect, his photos. He knew what he wanted. He set it up. He posed it. Then he painted from the photos. So the entire process was Rockwell’s. This doesn’t tell us that he was painting by the numbers, or copying from anyone. It simply explains how he worked.
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:58 am EGMT+5
so cool thanks
February 3rd, 2010 at 4:08 am EGMT+5
Hello!
February 3rd, 2010 at 4:12 am EGMT+5
Hello!!!
Don’t varry behappy…I am very love your website..
February 3rd, 2010 at 7:59 am EGMT+5
he is a great painter.his paintings are very nice.i love all those pictures.
February 3rd, 2010 at 11:11 am EGMT+5
I love Rockwell. We still call photographers artists right? Well this guy is is a good photographer and an illustrator. Why does these things have to be separate, he’s sort of a hybrid, and the result is beyond great. If he hadn’t arranged and taken the pictures himself it would be another issue, but it’s just a matter of technique to reach your goal.
Why go the long way if you can achive the same thing in a shorter time? This guy was smart, effective and talented.
Is the amount of time the measurement of art?
February 3rd, 2010 at 11:52 am EGMT+5
haaaaaaaPpyyyy Birthdayyyy …… :)
Hey ! I love ur all pintings thy r awesome …
especially the pic of
” young girl observing lovers” itzzz sooooo much well painted and very well concepted
itz just fantastic ….
keep up your good work …
good luck …
regards by
sweetie …
February 3rd, 2010 at 9:55 pm EGMT+5
Since I’ve got memory, I’ve always liked Norman Rockwell paintings and drawings. I knew he used a collection of photographs to help him in his compositions. What I didn´t know was that he also created the reality to create the image. In a way, this was done for centuries in painting, especially in much of the dutch painting of the XVIIth century: the painters “assembled” a lot of people, sometimes friends or relatives, and then painted the whole scene. But I think that NR was particularly fortunate, for his rendering of both photographs and paintings show an astounding quality on both.
February 11th, 2010 at 8:25 am EGMT+5
Are the people here giving opinions artists? Rockwell graphic work is really amazing but to claim that copying photos requires such an amazing skill shows simply a lack of understanding of the artist’s craft.
Many artists from the naturalist and realist movements used photos…that is why their paintings feel like photos and not like real human vision (I’m not qualifying here…their work is still great) They did that because it helps to achieve a, kind of, realist feel without having to hire models and create many drawing and painting studies from life…they did that because it is the easiest road.
And that is the point…the skill required to use a photo is less than the one required to achieve same realist results by hiring models and doing many studies from life to compose a complex composition…
So I take my hat to people who does not use photos and creates complex multifigure compostions still retaining some level of reality…Chilean master Claudio Bravo, or some new hot shots like American Jeremy Lipking come to mind.